How to Pray

(10 Part Series)

The Nature of Prayer

Part 1

Prayer is a communing with God.  It is sweet converse held between the soul and its Maker, whether by means of words or thoughts only. It is a lifting of our minds and hearts to the loving and Almighty Father Who made us, in order to praise and adore Him for all His greatness and goodness, to thank Him for the unbounded and numberless benefits we have received from Him, to petition His bounty for the many favors we need and to ask His pardon for our offenses.  As a child goes to its father to express its filial love and devotion and to obtain the satisfaction of its wants, as a friend talks to a friend, so in prayer the pious soul speaks to God and communes with its Creator.

From Blessed be God prayer-book